Explore the vast range of titles available.

In the present study, enhancement of abrasion resistance of phenol formaldehyde (PF) resin based hybrid friction composites with different ingredients viz. binder, micron sized fibers and fillers have been synergistically investigated. Hybrid friction composites based on basalt and recycled aramid fibers were prepared using compression moulding. Three-body abrasive wear tests were conducted according to ASTM G-65 standard by dry sand/rubber wheel abrasion tester using two different size of angular silica sand abrasives (212 and 425 μm) at a constant load of 40 N. The results indicated that the wear volume loss increases with increasing abrading distance and abrasive particle size. However, the specific wear rate decreased with increasing abrading distance and increases with increase in abrasive particle size. Addition of fiber content has a significant influence on the abrasive wear performance of these composites. Further, the worn surfaces were examined by scanning electron microscopy to identify the involved wear mechanisms.

In this work, enhancement of viscoelastic behaviour and thermal stability of hybrid friction composites has been synergistically investigated. Five different friction composites were fabricated by varying weight % of basalt fiber against BaSO4 content. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) was carried out to assess the temperature dependent viscoelastic behaviour of composites. Basalt fibre addition improves dynamic modulus such as storage modulus (E'), loss modulus (E\") and lowers the damping factor (tan δ) values. Thermal degradation behaviour and presence of volatile elements in the composites was studied using thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA). Higher amount of BaSO4 resulted in higher thermal stability and lower % of weight loss. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) analysis were employed to characterize the composites.

In today's competitive world communication plays a very important role. Communication has become an integral part of the growth, success and efficiency of any business. This is the technology that gives a person the power to communicate anytime, anywhere. Due to advancement in technology, now communication becomes easy and faster. In this paper, special emphasis has been laid over the comparative performance analysis of telecom companies AIRTEL and BSNL by using primary sources of data in Vellore district of Tamilnadu. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Jatropha oil is one of the vegetable oils that has potential for use as fuel for diesel engines. But at room temperature (30-32 degree C) Jatropha has a viscosity about 10 times higher than that of diesel. To lower viscosity to the level of diesel's viscosity, a heating temperature of at least 180 degree C is needed. At this temperature, there is a concern that the close-fitting parts of the injection system might be affected. This study focused on finding out the effects of preheating of fuel on the performance and emissions of a DI diesel engine. Results show that preheating of Jatropha oil lowered emissions compared to Jatropha oil. However, heating is necessary for smooth flow and to avoid fuel filter clogging. Both can be achieved by heating Jatropha oil to 180 degree C. Over the entire load range, preheated Jatropha oil combustion produced lower CO and HC emissions that were 30 % and 25 % compared to Jatropha oil. NO emission is higher about 5% in the X case of preheated oil compared to Jatropha oil.

Invasive growth and apoptosis resistance of breast cancer cells are associated with metastasis and disease relapse. Here we identified that the lysine-specific demethylase KDM3A played a dual role in breast cancer cell invasion and apoptosis by demethylating histone and the non-histone protein p53, respectively. While inducing pro-invasive genes by erasing repressive histone H3 lysine 9 methylation, KDM3A promotes chemoresistance by demethylating p53. KDM3A suppressed pro-apoptotic functions of p53 by erasing p53-K372me1, as this methylation is crucial for the stability of chromatin-bound p53. Unexpectedly, depletion of KDM3A was capable of reactivating mutated p53 to induce the expression of pro-apoptotic genes in breast cancer with mutant p53. Moreover, KDM3A knockdown also potently inhibited tumorigenic potentials of breast cancer stem-like cells and rendered them sensitive to apoptosis induced by chemotherapeutic drugs. Taken together, our results suggest that KDM3A might be a potential therapeutic target for human breast cancer treatment and prevention.

A composite of NiS nanoparticles reinforced with rGO was synthesized using the electrodeposition method. NiS composites with different rGO concentrations (1%, 3%, and 5%) were synthesized. NiS/5%rGO composite exhibits high capacitance and cycling stability. The composites' properties, including structure, morphology, composition, and electrochemical behavior were compared to pure NiS. XRD patterns confirmed the crystal structure and phase of NiS and NiS/rGO composites. SEM images show the hierarchical structure of NiS and the sheet-like morphology of GO. Integration of NiS nanoparticles onto rGO nanosheets is confirmed by Raman study. EPMA and HR-TEM techniques revealed the elemental composition and particle distribution of the composites. The increasing % of rGO increased the electrode's specific surface area and current-carrying ability, enabling efficient charging and discharging processes due to rapid electron conduction across the underlying graphene layers. This enhancement in the electrochemical behavior of NiS/5%rGO composite can be attributed to energy storage and green vehicle applications. Graphical abstract

Chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy has produced impressive results in clinical trials for B-cell malignancies. However, safety concerns related to the inability to control CAR-T cells once infused into the patient remain a significant challenge. Here we report the engineering of recombinant antibody-based bifunctional switches that consist of a tumor antigen-specific Fab molecule engrafted with a peptide neo-epitope, which is bound exclusively by a peptide-specific switchable CAR-T cell (sCAR-T). The switch redirects the activity of the bio-orthogonal sCAR-T cells through the selective formation of immunological synapses, in which the sCAR-T cell, switch, and target cell interact in a structurally defined and temporally controlled manner. Optimized switches specific for CD19 controlled the activity, tissue-homing, cytokine release, and phenotype of sCAR-T cells in a dose-titratable manner in a Nalm-6 xenograft rodent model of B-cell leukemia. The sCAR–T-cell dosing regimen could be tuned to provide efficacy comparable to the corresponding conventional CART-19, but with lower cytokine levels, thereby offering a method of mitigating cytokine release syndrome in clinical translation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this methodology is readily adaptable to targeting CD20 on cancer cells using the same sCAR-T cell, suggesting that this approach may be broadly applicable to heterogeneous and resistant tumor populations, as well as other liquid and solid tumor antigens.

Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death among all gynecological malignancies due to the development of acquired chemoresistance and disease relapse. Although the role of cancer stem cells (CSCs), a subset of tumor cells with the self-renewal and differentiation capabilities, in therapeutic resistance is beginning to be better understood, the significance of epigenetic regulatory mechanisms responsible for integrating the stemness with drug resistance remain poorly understood. Here we identified that lysine demethylase KDM3A as a critical regulator of ovarian cancer stemness and cisplatin resistance by inducing the expressions of pluripotent molecules Sox2 and Nanog and anti-apoptotic B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), respectively. In addition, KDM3A induces ovarian cancer growth while antagonizing cellular senescence by repressing the expression of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, p21 Waf1/Cip1 . The underlying mechanism of the noted biological processes include KDM3A-mediated stimulation of Sox2 expression, and demethylating p53 protein and consequently, modulating its target genes such as Bcl-2 and p21 Waf1/Cip1 expression. Consistently, KDM3A depletion inhibited the growth of subcutaneously implanted cisplatin-resistant human ovarian cancer cells in athymic nude mice. Moreover, KDM3A is abundantly expressed and positively correlated with Sox2 expression in human ovarian cancer tissues. In brief, our findings reveal a novel mechanism by which KDM3A promotes ovarian CSCs, proliferation and chemoresistance and thus, highlights the significance of KDM3A as a novel therapeutic target for resistant ovarian cancer.

New drugs are needed to treat gram-negative bacterial infections. These bacteria are protected by an outer membrane which prevents many antibiotics from reaching their cellular targets. The outer leaflet of the outer membrane contains LPS, which is responsible for creating this permeability barrier. Interfering with LPS biogenesis affects bacterial viability. We developed a cell-based screen that identifies inhibitors of LPS biosynthesis and transport by exploiting the nonessentiality of this pathway in Acinetobacter. We used this screen to find an inhibitor of MsbA, an ATP-dependent flippase that translocates LPS across the inner membrane. Treatment with the inhibitor caused mislocalization of LPS to the cell interior. The discovery of an MsbA inhibitor, which is universally conserved in all gram-negative bacteria, validates MsbA as an antibacterial target. Because our cell-based screen reports on the function of the entire LPS biogenesis pathway, it could be used to identify compounds that inhibit other targets in the pathway, which can provide insights into vulnerabilities of the gram-negative cell envelope.